amigos,

hola!!! que mas??? yo se que hace mucho no pongo nada en mi pagina de msn!!! les cuento que ando muy bien aqui en hawaii, estoy trabajando duro en mi submarino, el uss charlotte (en varias horas nos vamos por una semana y yo soy el encargado (con MUCHA ayuda!) de comenzar el reactor). pase la navidad aqui en hawaii y los extrañe mucho a todos... fue la primera vez que no estoy o con mi familia o en colombia para esa epoca... pero por el otro lado si pude ir de viaje por unos dias a la isla grande de hawaii para ver los volcanes, montar bicicleta y relajarme un rato, es un lugar impresionante! en estos dias yo sigo trabajando duro, trantando de leer, tomar te, hacer ejercicio, comenzar algunos projectos creativos/artisticos y tambien salir a pasarlo rico con mi comp de casa y gente que he conocido aqui... los extraño y los quiero mucho, me tienen que venir a visitar!!! un abrazote,

friends,

how are you all??? i know its been a while since ive put anything on my msn page!!! everything is going well here in hawaii, im working hard on my sub, the uss charlotte (in a few hours we are going underway for a week and im in charge (with a LOT of help!) of the reactor startup). i spent christmas here in hawaii and i missed you all a lot... this was the first time i wasnt with my family or in colombia for the holidays... on the other hand i did have the opportunity to take a few days off and travel to the big island of hawaii and see the volcanoes and relax a bit, its an amazing place! i have been spending my time working and trying to read, drink tea, work out, start a few creative projects and have some fun with my roommate and some other people ive met, i miss you all... you have to come visit! take care,

stephen

amigos,

hola!!! como van todos??? bueno pues les cuento rapidamente que llegue hace unos dias a hawaii!!!! termine mi curso en la base de submarinos en connecticut, un entrenamiento de sonar, armas, etc... y viaje a argentina por unas semanas y luego a colombia y tejas antes de partir a hawaii... no tengo palabras (ni fotos) para describir todo lo vivido, pero quiero darle las gracias a todos los que compartieron conmigo durante mi viaje, estan todos bienvenidos aqui en hawaii!!!! amigos, los quiero y los exaño mucho... un abrazote,

friends,

how are you all??? things here are going well, i just got to hawaii a few days ago!!!! i finished my submarine sonar and weapon systems, etc... training in connecticut and then travelled to argentina for a few weeks, followed by quick visits to colombia and texas before heading out here to hawaii... i dont have enough words (or pictures) to describe the whole experience, but i want to say thanks to everyone who was with me at one point or another during my travels, you are all welcome here in hawaii!!!! take care,

stephen

amigos,

hola! como van!! bueno pues les cuento que, por fin, termine mi entrenamiento en el reactor nuclear aqui.... hoy por la mañana pase mi examen oral, el tercer (termine mi examen final escrito y mi examen practico hace unas semanas) y ultimo paso en terminar con la calificacion de engineering officer of the watch, un puesto de supervisor al nivel basico en la planta nuclear... este fin de semana me voy a mudar a groton, connecticut, para un entrenamiento de 10 semanas antes de irme a hawaii para mi submarino, uss charlotte (un submarino de caza basada en pearl harbor).

de resto les cuento que he viajado cuando puedo, a virginia para el grado de mi prima, a austin texas, para ver a mi hermano daniel, a montreal canada y a la ciudad de nueva york varias veces... tambien he estado haciendo ejercicio y leyendo todo lo que puedo: encontre una serie de libros (la historia de la civilizacion por will durant) en una libreria en la ciudad de nueva york en una de mis visitas y eso ha sido excellente para leer por una media hora o una hora con una taza de te antes de salir a trabajar.

durante my tiempo en connecticut voy a tener (ojala) mucho tiempo libre, entonces busquenme por msn y mandenme emails y charlamos seguro, un abrazote,

friends,

how are you all?? today i finally finished my training here in new york... this morning i pased my oral board, the third (i took final written and practical exams in the last few weeks) and final step in qualifying engineering officer of the watch, a basic supervisory position in the reactor plant... this weekend im moving to groton, connecticut, for a 10 week long training before heading out to hawaii to meet up with my submarine, the uss charlotte (a fast attack submarine homeported in pearl harbor).

i have been travelling whenever i can, to virginia for my cousins graduation, to austin texas, to visit my brother daniel, to montreal canada and to new york city quite a few times... ive also been working out and reading as much as i can: i found a rare series of books (will durants history of civilization) in a bookstore in new york city on one of my visits and that, with a cup of tea, has made great reading for the half hour or hour before work .

i should have (i hope) quite a bit of free time in connecticut, so feel free to call or email and we ll talk for sure, take care!

stephen

amigos,

hola!! como van??? bueno les cuento que mucho ha pasado desde que he puesto fotos en msn o contado de mi vida entonces aqui va: el 30 de enero tomamos el examen comprensivo de los ultimos 6 meses de estudio, de teoria de operador nuclear. hubo fiesta esa noche y al dia siguiente me encontre con mis nuevos compañeros de casa y empacamos todo lo nuestro en un camion alquilado que mateo y max manejaron a nueva york despues de nuestro grado el 2 de febrero.

yo sali manejando despues del grado a virginia, pase un dia con mis tios, joe y grant y parti a thailandia y cambodia. pase un dia en bangkok y luego casi dos semanas en cambodia. la verdad es que no me alcanzan las palabras (ni las fotos) para describir todo lo vivido, pero los templos de angkor wot y bayon fueron lo primero que vi y les cuento que nunca he visto algo tan impresionante construido por el hombre.

viaje de alli al sur de cambodia, conociendo a cada paso personas impresionantes, un backpacker de croacia, un italiano que vive en oslo desde hace 16 años, un ingeniero electronico aleman que vivia en francia, una niña suiza windsurfer que estaba viajando sola por todo asia, canadienses, britanicos, israelies y hasta españoles y un colombiano! tambien conoci mucha gente de cambodia, ellos me explicaron y me demostraron directamente mucho de su pasado impresionante y violento, tambien comi todas sus comidas con ellos, incluso tarantulas fritas, otros bichos y todo tipo de carnes misteriosas, rata y perro sospecho... sali en el sur del pais a unas islas en lancha, luego a bucear en el golfo de thailandia por dos dias. tambien alquile una moto y viaje mucho por el sur de cambodia, despues del sur vi la capital, phnom penh y los campos de matanza del khmer rougue y viaje mas al norte en bus y lancha a otras ciudades.

lluege de viaje a virginia de nuevo en donde volvia a pasar un dia con mis tios, joe y grant. el proximo dia parti a saratoga springs ny manejando, que queda a mas o menos 3 horas al norte de la ciudad de nueva york... aqui he estado limpiando la casa, haciendo comida, entrando y desempacando todas mis cosas y comenzando mi trabajo en el reactor prototipo que queda aqui. si esta pasando por ny me avisan seguro y nos vemos! un abrazote a todos,

friends,

how are you guys??? i know its been forever since ive updated my pictures here and told you about my life, so here goes: on jan 30 we took the comprehensive final to end nuclear power school. i passed and we had a party that same night, only to wake up early and start packing up all my belongings with my new roommates the next day. max and matt drove the rented truck we loaded up to new york after graduation, which was on the 2 of feb.

i drove up to virginia after graduation and stayed with my aunt and uncle and my friends joe and grant for a day before taking off to thailand and cambodia. i spent a day in bangkok and then almost two weeks in cambodia... all my words (and pictures) cant begin to describe all the things i saw, but the temples of angkor wot and bayon were the first things i saw in cambodia and i can honestly say that i have never seen anything so amazing built by the hands of men.

i travelled from there to southern cambodia, getting to know some pretty amazing people every step of the way there: a backpacker from croatia, an italian guy who has been living in oslo for 16 years, a german electrical engineer who is living in france right now, a swiss windsurfer who was travelling thru all of asia on her own, canadians, british, israelis and even some spaniards and a colombian! i also met many people from cambodia, and understood their violent and amazing past first hand and shared their food with them, even fried tarantulas, other bugs and mysterious meats that i suspect were rat and dog... i was out in the southern part of the country for a while exploring on a rented motorcycle and travelling to some islands in a little boat as well as going diving in the gulf of thailand for a few days. from there i headed to the capital, phnom penh where i saw the khmer rougue's killing fields and then travelled farther north by bus and boat to a few other cities.

i arrived in virginia after cambodia and spent another day with my aunt and uncle, joe and grant. the next day i took off for saratoga springs ny, which is about 3 hours north of new york city... here ive been cleaning the house, making food, getting my stuff into the house and unpacking it all and starting to work on the prototype reactor here. if you are passing thru ny let me know and we ll see eachother for sure! take care,

stephen

amigos,

hola! como estan??? bueno les escribo rapidamente para saludarlos y contarles un poco de mi vida en estos dias... he estado estudiando y trabajando muy fuertemente en la escuela de ingenieria nuclear, muchas veces entro ambos dias del fin de semana tambien entonces no he salido a hacer muchas cosas en estos dias... estoy en la decima semana del entrenamiento y estoy tomando termodinamica 3, reactor dynamics 1 (como fisica de reactores) e ingenieria electronica 1... ya hemos terminado 10 materias y nos faltan 14 mas el examen final todavia... mi compañero de cuarto de mi segundo año de la academia tambien se caso hace una semana... ahora soy el unico de los 5 que no se ha casado (o propuesto)... wow.

en el tiempo libre que tengo termino saliendo al downtown en charleston, a fiestas en las casas de compañeros, a disparar escopeta... logre salir de viaje a la florida una vez a visitar mi amiga darci y tambien sali a savannah, georgia, para visitar el cementerio en donde esta enterrado mi poeta favorito, conrad aiken...  me hacen mucha falta todos ustedes, les mando un abrazo grande!

friends,

hey! how are you all??? i just wanted to write quick to say hi and catch you up a bit on my life here... ive been studying and working hard in nuclear power school, many times coming in to study on both days of the weekend as well, so i havent had much time to get out and do other things these days... im in the tenth week of training and am taking thermodynamics 3, reactor dynamics 1 (like reactor physics) and electrical engeneering 1... weve already finished 10 subjects and have 14 left as well as the comprehensive exam... my roommate from my second year at the academy also got married last week, so that leaves me as the only one of 5 that is not married (or hasnt proposed)... wow.

in my free time i have been downtown in charleston, at parties at different peoples houses, out shooting... i also managed to get down to florida to visit a my friend darci as well as down to savannah, georgia, to visit the graveyard where my favourite poet, conrad aiken, is buried... i miss you all and hope to see you soon!

amigos,

hola!!! les escribo rapidamente para contarles un poco de mi vida: hoy comenze la escuela de ingenieria nuclear... estamos viendo nuestras primeras tres clases: fiscia, matematicas y rps (reactor plant systems) y tenemos nuestro primer examen la semana entrante... voy a tener que trabajar mucho mas duro en estos dias y como todo es clasificado me toca estudiar en la base. de resto todo va muy bien, mi primo ian se esta recuperando de su cirugia de corazon abierto (lo vi este finde), tambien puse un resto de fotos del ultimo mes aqui en charleston y me llegaron las fotos del buceo en egipto que tomo nuestra amiga danesa. bueno pues! nos estamos hablando seguro, un abrazo grande!

friends,

how are you??? i just wanted to write quick and catch you up on my life a bit: i started nuclear power school today... we are taking our first three classes: physics, math and rps (reactor plant systems) and our first test is next week... i think im going to be working quite hard and since all the material is classified i have to study on base. everything else is going well, my cousin ian is recovering from his open heart surgery (i saw him this weekend), i also put some pictures of my last month here in charleston and the danish girl we met in egypt also sent me the underwater pictures from egypt. take care, we ll be in touch!

"It is not by spectacular achievements that man can be transformed, but by will."
-Henrik Ibsen

egypt was amazing, the culture, the people, the history, all the temples and pyramids, the red sea... amazing. travelling around the whole country with grant was one of the most amazing experiences in my life! i still have to get my hands on the underwater pictures of scuba diving! take care and we ll be in touch!

"The truth is true untried, but so are all your lies"
-Crooked Fingers

amigos,
estoy ahora en monterey, california estudiando para mi masters en fisica en la escuela naval de posgrado, despues de mi graduacion de la academia naval y mi mes de backpacking en india. estoy estudiando, leyendo mucho, tomando te, haciendo ejercicio, viajando un poco, arte (escultura/tabla de surf) y varios deportes, esquiando, nadando y surfeando, acampando, etc... disfrutando la vida lo maximo posible, viviendo lo mas que puedo. mantengansen en contacto.

pd: una de las fotos es de mi nueva mascota

friends,
im out in monterey, california, studying for my masters in physics at the naval postgraduate school after graduating from the naval academy and taking a month-long backpacking trip to india. im studying, reading books, drinking tea, working out, travelling some, doing some art and diving, swimming, surfing, skiing, camping and hiking and biking. life is good and im living and enjoying as much as i can. stay in touch.

ps: one of the pictures is my new pet

"And in a word, neither death nor exile nor pain nor anything of the kind is the cause of our doing anything or not doing; but our own opinions and our wills."

The Discourses of Epictetus, Book 1, Chapter 11